A Venters 18
Thornton 19
McCrae 46
McIntosh 29, 72
Dykes 73
Match Information
Attendance: 40000
Referee: William Webb (Glasgow)
Match Trivia
When Alex Venters retires to his rocking-chair and his reminiscence, I sincerely hope the memory of this day of his goal that made 40,000 onlookers gasp with delight will never desert him. And I hope he can do the story justice, for Im darned if I can! The game had been going about eighteen minutes . . . at least Rangers had been going for that time. Hearts had seen the ball but hadnt properly made its acquaintance . . . if you know what I mean. Jimmy Dykes and Willie Waugh were the exceptions. Waugh had made a couple of saves one from Gillick, and one from Bolt that must have made his better half sitting in the stand, feel mighty proud of him. And the Dykes family, also sitting there in the tip-ups, must have felt equally proud as they looked down on big Jimmy nipping in time and time again at the vital moments to stop the Panzer-like thrusts of the Ibrox forwards. But when in that nineteenth minute the ball dropped at Venters foot thirty yards away from the bulls-eye neither Waugh nor Dykes nor anyone else knew a thing about it until it nestled snugly in the net. I wonder how many of us actually followed the flight of the ball from the moment it left his foot. Those who did must have the eyes of a cat and perhaps the imagination of a film companys publicity expert as well! In less than a minute the Panzer troops were at it again. Johnstone diddles McClure and swings the ball over. Gillick heads it on. Miller miskicks, Thornton pokes it in again. Dykes sees Waughs as its crossing the line only succeeds in helping it across. The third arrives not long afterwards and those of us, who have hitherto refused to admit that Hearts arent in todays quotations, bow to the inevitable. Honestly chaps, I havent seen a Hearts team so completely outplayed, so lady-like in their advances, so terribly reluctant to get on with the game, for many a long day. I dont know what Davie McLean had to say to them at half-time but his remarks couldnt have been too cutting. Whatever he did say, had I am glad to record, some effect. As a matter of fact, if they had shown the same willingness to mix it in the first half as they did in the second those Tynecastle lads maybe wouldnt have been going back to Edinburgh mourning another Hampden tragedy. A minute after the interval McCrae good laddie this first-timed one past Dawson, and for the next twenty minutes or so Rangers were sticking out their chin and asking for it. Pity Tommy Walker, who had found about twenty-five per cent of his form, was so dilatory about having a go. Still greater pity that Christie and Dougan would persist in turning the wrong way, and George Hamilton always got the ball driven at him instead of passed to him. And then, of course when we least expected it, Rangers again broke into a gallop. Thornton and Gillick ripped open the defence. Gillick lashed out from about twelve yards. Waugh parried it, but before he could gather the ball McIntosh, the liveliest lad of the lot, nipped in and put it into the net. What matter though Dykes, despairing of the men in front of him, came up less than a minute later and made the score more respectable; the game, as such, was over! Rangers played some delightful football, Hearts some of the most spineless stuff imaginable. Apart from Dykes who was immense all the way through, and Philp the grafter, who had the thankless job of looking after the Venters Johnstone wing, none played within yards of their usual form. Rangers had weaknesses too, but they were never fully exploited. The wing-halfs, for instance were pretty well through with it in the second half, but forward play was sparkling. Venters was irresistible in the first half. Thornton too, though he tired a bit in the second half. McIntosh, I should say, is a real discovery, Sharp as a needle game as a fighting cock
